The present invention relates to a means for a guiding material off a conveyorized cutter bed surface and onto a receiving table or the like, and deals more particularly with a takeoff ramp located at the discharge end of the cutter bed and cooperating with the sheet material as it is advanced by the conveyor for readily separating the sheet material from the conveyorized surface without damaging it.
Conveyorized vacuum tables for feeding sheet material are well known in the art of garment making. Such tables are comprised of a conveyor belt having sections or slats carrying penetrable bristles which form a bed for supporting sheet material. The belt is also comprised of chains and sprockets which propel the slats in a given advancement direction. Cut limp sheet material advanced from such conveyor tables have many various ways of being handled. One such way is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,646,911, issued to Pearl et al. on Mar. 3, 1987, which patent being commonly assigned with the assignee of the present invention. This patent discloses advancing sheet material after being cut off the discharge end of the table and into a collecting hopper 25 located below the surface of the table. The sheet material is thus caused to simply fall from the table after reaching the end. However, in other applications, such as disclosed in co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 07/681,860, it is desirable to advance the cut sheet material off the conveyorized bed such that it remains substantially flat and almost maintained within the same plane occupied during its cutting to allow cutting of sheet material pieces wherein a first portion of a piece can be cut, the conveyor advanced, and then a second portion of the same piece cut, as disclosed in aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 5,042,339. One benefit of this arrangement is that the work piece remains at a height suitable for handling by an operator. For this purpose, a take-off conveyor or table may be provided at the discharge end of the bed such that the cut pattern piece or pieces and the waste material which surrounds these pieces collect there rather than being discharged downwards into a bin. One problem associated with the transfer of sheet material from the discharge end of the conveyorized bed onto a take-off table surface located generally in line with the supporting surface of the bed is that sheet material, in particular a single limp ply, is often held at least in part by the bristles of the last slat as it breaks from the supporting surface drawing it downwards from that surface. Often the results are adverse with the garment piece becoming misaligned or even torn due to this nonuniform advancement.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a means located at the discharge end of a conveyorized cutter bed so that sheet material can be advanced off the bed and continue in this direction generally along the same path taken in its advancement during the cutting operation without causing misalignment and/or damage to the material being handled.
In keeping with the foregoing object, a more specific object of the invention is to provide a take-off ramp of the aforementioned type having means engaging with the bristle bed for providing a ramping surface onto which a sheet or sheets of limp material are readily separated from the surface which supports it during cutting without causing the sheet material to continue in a downward travel path of the endless conveyor which moves it.
Yet a further object of the present invention is to provide a highly reliable take-off ramp adaptable to be used with any type of take-off table receiving sheet material advanced off the discharge end of a conveyorized cutter bed.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following disclosure and the appended claims.